NBA legend Bill Walton dies at 71

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Bill Walton, the NBA Hall of Fame center, sportscaster and Grateful Dead supporter, has died at age 71. His death was announced today by the National Basketball Association, which released a statement from commissioner Adam Silver calling Walton “truly one of a kind.” “He redefined the center position.”

During his more than decade-long career from 1974 to 1988, Walton won two NBA championships and was named MVP in both the regular season and the Finals. Before that, he won two NCAA titles at UCLA. After turning professional, Walton began a successful career as a broadcaster and co-commentator, beginning with a stint with CBS in 1990.

But with his nearly seven-foot stature, his fresh look on the air, and his colorful tie-dye outfits that expressed his affiliation with the Deadheads, Walton’s influence and presence extended beyond the basketball court: He was mentioned (by his former rival and UCLA successor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the film Airplane! and appeared in films ranging from Ghost Hunters To Little Nicky. Walton’s love of music made him a recognizable and popular figure at classic rock concerts, and he was known for occasionally peppering college basketball broadcasts with minute-long monologues about Bob Dylan.

Walton, who suffered from back problems and pain throughout his life (he fractured his spine at the age of 21), went through a period lasting several years around 2008 in which he was “literally on the floor.”

“I kept asking myself, ‘What am I going to do with my life if I ever get back up?'” he said in 2016. “Here I am today. I am the luckiest person in the world.”

This is an evolving story.